Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(92)

The many carbon-bonded substances that made up the deadly explosives came apart the most reluctantly, but break down they did, their long chains of bonds clinking like real chains as they became carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. The gases floated away to be absorbed into the air while the rest fell into a carbonate mush.

In a matter of seconds, Gavan’s treasured hoard of weapons were nothing but a formless slag covered with dust. The slag itself began to break down, mixing with the dust until a layer of uniform gray about a foot thick coated the space under the trailer.

A puff of this dust wafted up on the breeze through cracks in the floor, and floated away.

Zander sneezed. “Huh,” he said, peering into the hole. “Anyone have a vacuum?”

Lady Aisling released Tamsin’s hand. The true outlines of everything around Tamsin blurred and returned to what she usually saw. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that if she willed herself hard enough, she’d be able to again see what Lady Aisling had shown her.

“That is a gift I will give you, my dear,” Lady Aisling said. “The ability to see, and to understand. You have it,” she said to Ben. “Somewhat.”

Tamsin thought she understood what Lady Aisling meant. Ben could meld his true form into anything, including a mimicry of his surroundings. “That is how you make yourself unseen,” Tamsin said to him. “Wonder if I could do that.”

“You already do,” Lady Aisling said. “You might think you have escaped detection because you are clever, but it is mostly to do with the abilities the Tuil Erdannan bestowed on your kind. Use them wisely, my dear.”

Tamsin shook her head. “It didn’t help me when I was running through the woods trying to get away from Angus. He caught me without a problem.”

Lady Aisling patted her cheek. “Because he’s your mate, dear. Now, off you go, and explain things to your human guardsmen. I will give you another gift, Tamsin, because I like you. You have the power, like Ben, to not be noticed and to be quickly forgotten. I sense one man out there is determined to capture or kill you, and I would not like that. You need to practice to fully use your abilities, so I will give you a boost. Now, I really must be going. My gardener is not made of patience, and he is correct—we have a very small planting window. Good-bye, Shifters.” She glanced at Ben, a frown puckering her brows as she took her hat from him. “I have a daughter about your age. Perhaps . . .” She shook her head. “No, never mind.”

Lady Aisling turned her back on them, walked to the corner of the trailer where the gloom on this rainy afternoon was deepest, and vanished.

“Perhaps,” Ben repeated. “Perhaps what?”

“Sounds like she’s trying to fix you up on a blind date,” Zander said in his booming voice. “Don’t go for it. Never works out.”

“Hey, bear-man, I know how you met your mate, so you don’t qualify to comment,” Ben said. “Shall we, people?”

Angus stepped in front of Tamsin and gave her his fierce glare. “You stay behind me, no matter what happens. Understand? Behind me. If it comes to a fight, you let Ben take you out of here.”

Tamsin nuzzled his shoulder. “I like it when you’re all growly and my alpha mate. I have a feeling we won’t have a problem getting away though.”

The police had their pistols trained on the trailer, but they had not commenced firing as threatened. Ben walked out first, not because Angus let him, but because he simply slipped by.

“Evening, officers,” he said in his laid-back, friends-with-everyone voice. “What can we do for you?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN


Angus felt Tamsin up against his back; for once she was using common sense and not darting directly into danger. Her breath warmed his skin, heating the blood beneath.

She’d laid her hand over his heart, right where the mate bond throbbed, and smiled up at him. Not just a metaphor for Shifters who fall in love.

In love. She’d fallen in love with him.

His stupefaction at the statement hadn’t quite gone away. Watching hard metal become dust hadn’t astonished him as much as the fact that Tamsin Calloway loved him.

Angus loved her. He loved her smiles, her sassy mouth, her fearlessness. Loved how she protected Ciaran and laughed with him, how she’d look up at Angus and include him in the laughter. Her silly singing, her red hair that flowed over his body in the night, her touch that lit fires all through him.

Angus loved her, the love growing inside him like the blossoming of Lady Aisling’s roses, beauty coming suddenly from nothing.

“You folks all right?” a police officer was asking Ben outside. His voice was no longer threatening but concerned, in a professional way. “Got a call about intruders in this trailer.”

Zander jumped down from the doorway, Tiger following. “Yep,” Zander said as he landed. “Some local boys thought they’d take over and party. We chased them off, but someone must have called you.”

Which was exactly what had happened, Angus thought. Now to see if the cops believed it.

The policemen lowered weapons, taking their cue from their leader. But behind them were Shifter Bureau agents—Zander and Tiger weren’t wearing Collars, and Bureau agents were trained to spot Collarless Shifters. Angus held his breath, and Tamsin tensed beside him.